ANIMAL WELFARE: What We Do

Published in For the Common Good

We do our best to help animals in need. This is an overview of what we do, despite our limited resources. We aim to do more!

Two rescued puppies (2018) Two rescued puppies (2018)

Every year, Eco Hvar receives inquiries, complaints and pleas for help about lost, abandoned and ill-treated animals. Some of the inquiries come from islanders, the majority from Croatian and foreign guests. Most relate to dogs and cats on Hvar, but they have also included donkeys, horses and birds. A few inquiries come in from other islands and even distant parts of mainland Croatia.

Top ten topics:

1. Stray dogs wandering loose, looking hungry and lost

2. Lost dogs, reported by owners or finders

3. Dogs living in squalor without proper shelter from the sun, and without regular food and water

4. Dogs kept on a chain, barking and/or howling non-stop day and night

5. Dogs creating a nuisance, not kept under proper control

6. Cats abandoned in tourist resorts which close at the end of the summer season

7. Cats multiplying out of control

8. Tiny kittens abandoned and hungry

9. Sick cats and dogs

10. Cats making a mess in private or public places

What we do depends on the circumstances of each case:

1. We check the details of the situation, as far as we can, by visiting the place, and/or by making inquiries with local people

2. We contact the relevant authorities: the local Warden, local Vet, Veterinary Inspectors and/or Police

3. We take lost dogs to the Vet to check whether they are micro-chipped

4. We try to locate the owners of loose, roaming dogs

5. We try to find ways of influencing owners who keep their dogs in bad conditions

6. When possible, we take in abandoned dogs  and try to find them homes

7. If necessary, we take unwanted dogs to the No-kill Animal Shelter (Animalis Centrum) in Kaštela near Split, which has an excellent success rate in finding them homes, and keeps us informed about the status of dogs from the island

8. As much as we can, we support other Charities and individuals working for animal welfare

9. We encourage cat and dog owners to have their pets sterilized

10. We encourage dog and cat owners to clean up after their animals (and other people's if necessary)

11. We try to help street cats, by working on local solutions for those in need of food and care

12.We encourage and support individuals who want to help animals in need as much as we can

13. We take sick dogs or cats to the Vet, if possible

14. We inform the people who have contacted us about animals in need so that they understand the relevant laws which govern the situation; we explain what action we have taken (or why we have been unable to do anything), and what the outcome has been (if any)

Rescued puppy examined by Vet Dr. Mirej, February 2018. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

VETERINARY SURGERIES ON hVAR

Hvar Town; Specijalistička praksa za male životinje. Address: Šime Buzolić Tome 15a, Hvar, Croatia; Tel 021 880 022. On Facebook; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Stari Grad:  Veterinarska ambulanta Lota Stari Grad. Address: Put Rudine 3, Stari Grad, Croatia. Tel: 021 244 337.  On Facebook. email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 HELP IS ALWAYS NEEDED!

As there is no Animal Shelter for unwanted dogs or cats on the island, we are very limited in what we can do. However, the revised Law on Animal Protection (Zakon o zaštiti životinja NN 102 /2017) which came into force in October 2017 has made a difference: local authorities are now obliged to take greater action for animal welfare. This has helped the work of Charities like ours. In particular, we have benefited from the excellent services provided by the Bestie Foundation which is responsible for the Animalis Centrum Animal Shelter in Kaštel Sućurac. Much remains to be done, so please support us, in whatever way you can! In 2024 a special appeal is being launched in aid of the Bestie Foundation:

Twelve good reasons to help the Bestie Animal Protection Foundation

PLEASE DONATE!

Details for donations:

Via the bank:
Zaklada Bestie
Kukuljevićeva 1, 21000 Split
Otp banka
IBAN: HR9324070001100371229
SWIFT: OTPVHR2X

Paypal donate button: https://www.paypal.me/ZakladaBestie

© Vivian Grisogono MA(Oxon) 2018, 2024.

More in this category: « Dogs: how to help when needed
You are here: Home For the common good ANIMAL WELFARE: What We Do

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Exclusive: documents chronicle years-long campaign to make it easier to build intensive livestock units

    Ministers are rewriting planning rules to make it easier to build intensive livestock farms despite concerns about water pollution, air quality and local opposition.

    Documents obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act show that proposed changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) were discussed by ministers and officials in response to concerns of the country’s leading chicken producers, who have been lobbying on the issue for at least two years.

    Continue reading...

  • Waste of 700 Boomtown festival attendees used to produce 540 litres of fertiliser for native tree project

    Scientists are aiming to grow 4,500 trees at a national park with the help of fertiliser made from festivalgoers’ urine.

    The fertiliser was created by the Bristol-based startup NPK Recovery, which connected its unit to a block of toilets used by 700 revellers at Boomtown festival in Hampshire in July last year.

    Continue reading...

  • Oil crisis triggered by blockade of strait of Hormuz prompts emergency measures to protect supply and halt rising prices

    Shrinking fuel stocks and soaring prices are leading countries around the world to burn coal, ration fuel, shorten work weeks and tell citizens to stay at home.

    Fossil fuel supplies have reduced since the war against Iran led to the closure of the strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for oil and seaborne gas. The shortfall has prompted emergency measures as government’s attempt to halt rising costs that have thrown economies into chaos.

    Continue reading...

  • Britain’s swift population fell by two-thirds between 1995 and 2023. Make their lives a little easier with a bit more food and more places to nest

    Swifts are wheeling, screaming endurance athletes. They don’t touch the earth for nine months of the year and fly about 14,000 miles annually – travelling from sub-Saharan Africa to nest in the UK, then back again. In Britain, they’re the sign that summer is coming or taking its leave. In between, they provide a heart-soaring display of beauty. No wonder they’re beloved.

    “Swifts spark joy,” says Hannah Bourne-Taylor, a passionate swift advocate and author of Nature Needs You: The Fight to Save Our Swifts.

    Continue reading...

  • From balloon arches at parties to mass balloon releases at funerals, these bits of floating rubber and plastic can have disastrous effects on wildlife. As some retailers are refusing to sell them, here are some alternatives

    I remember, as a child, hanging on to one specific party balloon for what seemed like years. I don’t remember how or where I acquired it, but it had initially floated high, bobbing against the ceiling, and, over time, lost its buoyancy, coming to rest on the carpet. Yet, when a family friend asked if they should pop the now sad-looking balloon, I assumed they were joking – like when an adult asks, teasingly, if they should eat your last slice of birthday cake – and was distraught when they followed through. I didn’t care that it had become grubby and partly deflated – I’d had that balloon for what felt like for ever.

    This, it turns out, is the problem with many balloons. Not that clingy young children might become over-attached to them, but that they are often a single-use plastic – and even biodegradable alternatives such as latex balloons do not decompose quickly, meaning they can pose a significant risk to wildlife and the environment. In 2019, scientists found that balloons eaten by seabirds are more likely to kill them than other kinds of plastic – yet they do not seem to have been earmarked in the same way as, for example, plastic straws. If anything, balloon-based decor has become more popular in recent years, with balloon arches or tunnels deployed not just at birthdays but at events ranging from baby showers to shop openings. Balloon drops are used at New Year’s Eve celebrations and graduation parties, and balloon releases have also endured – particularly at funerals, where the unleashing of helium-filled balloons signifies the letting-go of a loved one.

    Continue reading...

  • Nettlecombe, Dorset: Logging is typically a job for a machine, but French Comtois are highly manoeuvrable and have just the right amount of horsepower

    A heave and a grunt and a sudden rush as the felled tree trunk starts to move, dragged on a chain behind Etty’s stocky chestnut hindquarters.

    Etty is a 12-year-old mare who works with Toby Hoad of Dorset Horse Logging. Their partnership requires mutual understanding and constant communication, as he explains: “You’ve really got to build up a relationship; you’ve got to build up trust. I can drop the reins, and she will pull out the log out for me if it’s in a tight spot.”

    Continue reading...

  • After being pushed to ‘distress’ by people trying to film and take selfies with the cattle in Kent, the fold has had to be taken away from public view

    Name: Highland cows.

    Age: More than 1,000 years old.

    Continue reading...

  • The more than 100 bat species living in the Mozambican reserve’s labyrinth of caves play a key role in maintaining a fragile ecosysytem that benefits wildlife and people

    • Words and photographs by Kang-Chun Cheng

    After wriggling gingerly into a damp, cool cave, Raúl da Silva Armando Chomela waits for his eyes to adjust. Donning latex gloves, a helmet fitted with a headlamp, and a mask to protect his lungs from fine particles and bacteria, the molecular biologist from the Mozambican port city of Beira gazes into the shadowy recesses for signs of bats.

    He has spent two years in these claustrophobic spaces studying the winged mammals and their excrement. “Guano is far more than just bat droppings,” he says. “If I had to describe it in one word, I’d say ‘ecosystem’.”

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: Guardian investigation into reliability of methane certification issued by MiQ reveals weakness of voluntary model

    A rapidly expanding certification scheme run by a UK nonprofit and used by major gas companies may be understating the actual methane emissions it purports to certify, a Guardian investigation has found.

    BP, ExxonMobil and EQT are among the producers that have turned to London-based MiQ to demonstrate that their US-produced natural gas complies with the European Union Methane Regulation, or EUMR, which aims to curb energy-related emissions.

    Jess Staufenberg contributed additional reporting to this piece. The investigation was supported by Journalismfund Europe and Gas Outlook.

    Continue reading...

  • Research from the University of Exeter find that the method could help reduce thefts by as much as 50%

    Gulls thrive on snatching chips from unwary beachgoers, but now research shows that painting a pair of eyes on takeaway boxes could put gulls off, reducing thefts by as much as 50%.

    Laura Kelley, from the University of Exeter, and colleagues presented herring gulls with tempting takeaways at a number of seaside towns in Devon and Cornwall. When faced with a choice between a box with eyes painted on it and a plain box, the gulls were slower to approach the box with eyes and less likely to peck at it. And the findings, which are published in Ecology and Evolution, show that the effect is sustained, with gulls remaining wary of the boxes with eyes on them, even after repeated exposure.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds